Chapter 56: Mutation (2/2)

“That’s just first level mutated meat. Second level meat is resold for 30 catties of food stamps per catty while third level costs 80 catties of food stamps. How much do you think the resale value of fourth level meat would be?” Luo Yuan asked.

“That would depend on supply and demand. If fourth level mutated beasts were rare, then people would buy their meat no matter how expensive it was,” Huang Jiahui pondered, finally understanding. “Are you saying that this is fourth level beast meat?”

Luo Yuan nodded his head and Huang Jiahui covered her gaping mouth.

“Then… then we’ll be eating away thousands of dollars a day!” Wang Shishi was shocked.

“Something like that. But both of you would probably get nose bleeds if you had too much of it,” Luo Yuan laughed.

“What’s the level of the big green beetles we ate the other day?”

Luo Yuan entertained their curiosity, “Regular green beetles are second level, guard rank green beetles are third level.”

Wang Shishi looked dumbfounded as she asked, “What kind of a creature is fourth level? You must have seen it. Right, Brother Luo?”

“It’s better that you don’t know. You might have nightmares!”

Luo Yuan could still feel fear as he thought about the dragon snake. It was as if the creature existed in a mythical world.

Of course, dragon snakes were in no way related to mythical dragons. The system typically identified mutated beasts by the names given to them by the authorities, but judging by how the authorities had also named the creature a dragon snake, it was evident that they had found a resemblance between the dragon snake and the mythical creature.

Huang Jiahui had already been suspicious when Luo Yuan had brought third and fourth level meat that could not be found in the market. The fact that Luo Yuan had now come across a fourth level creature made her even more sure of her assumption. Her voice trembled as she asked, “Did you go into the woods?”

Luo Yuan hesitated before meeting her eyes and nodding.

Huang Jiahui wanted to ask him not to go on an adventure in the woods again, but meeting his assertive gaze, her words turned into a sigh. She was suddenly worried that Luo Yuan might not return home anymore after leaving for the day.

Flustered, Huang Jiahui covered it up by saying, “I’m going to the kitchen!”

She left before she had even finished her words.

Luo Yuan understood after a moment.

Ever since he had been to the woods and escaped death, the pressure had been building on him to level up quickly to get prepared for the worst. He had already met a blue rank creature by just wandering around the outskirts of the woods. If the area spread over the whole Jiangnan Province, or the whole country even, the number of these creatures out there would probably be inconceivable.

What was more, there could already be creatures that had mutated even further.

Although Hedong City was peaceful, it was like an isolated island facing the woods that extended beyond the horizon. Anyone could predict that the city would be in grave danger down the line. Its technology could not keep up with the world’s mutation. It might even deteriorate because of it. The city’s downfall was only a matter of time.

It was better to be a dog in times of peace than a man in times of chaos.

If he could, Luo Yuan would go back to leading a 9 to 5 life like he used to before, and not struggle to survive each day like he was now.

Huang Jiahui came to the living room carrying two plates, her eyes rimmed red like she had been crying.

Luo Yuan took a glance at her and said, “Do you know what the biggest food supply for mutated beasts is?”

Without waiting for an answer, he went on, “It’s humans. The world has about 60 – 70 billions of population. Of course it might be less than a third of that now, but the number is still large. To a beast, a city looks like a giant food container. Once they can overcome its outer defense, they can have all the goodies inside. Hedong City is much safer because the military is here, but other places have probably fallen just like Donghu City. Mutated beasts will only continue to evolve and evolution doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. Their domain will only expand over time, and if humans don’t have another tech boom soon, we will only be able to survive by mutating just like the beasts. I hope this time both of you can evolve!”

Luo Yuan’s calming voice was laced with a chill. Both girls were bothered by it. They had already chosen to ignore the chaos taking place outside and leave the memory of living in the dark like alley rats behind them. They’d been living in peace for some time now.

The atmosphere in the living room seemed to become charged at once.

Perhaps the green beetle meat had been more disgusting, or perhaps it was because they were experienced this time around but, even though they kept frowning as they ate, none of them puked.

Barely a minute after eating though, Wang Shishi claimed to have a headache.

Luo Yuan was not really concerned in the beginning. A headache was nothing to worry about after all. However, Wang Shishi’s face flushed redder as her headache got more painful before she finally fainted and fell to the floor. Just as Luo Yuan was about to lift her up, he suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body.